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Jacob Fowler was the subject of much debate at the CH before the draft.

 Auteur: Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
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Jacob Fowler was the subject of much debate at the CH before the draft.

I won’t be telling you anything new this evening when I say that the Habs made goaltending one of their top priorities at the last draft. With the departure of Carey Price, the CH is looking for its future #1 goaltender, and to stack the odds in its favor, it drafted three at the last amateur auction.

And in the process, they took the liberty of drafting Jacob Fowler, one of the top prospects in the draft, in front of the net. The club opted for quantity, but also for quality.

That said, even though Fowler was ultimately the club’s choice, he didn’t necessarily win unanimous approval right from the start: in the behind-the-scenes video of the draft released by the Habs this evening, we learn that the young goalie was the subject of a rather heated debate between two scouts: Billy Ryan and Vincent Riendeau.

It starts at around 7:50, for those who want to hear it in its entirety:

Obviously, debates are part of the process of preparing teams (and that’s a good thing, because it’s by mixing ideas that we come to the best conclusion), and what we notice in this one is that both scouts pushed hard for their goalie.

Ryan really wanted Fowler, while Riendeau had another goalie in his sights (unnamed, as he now belongs to another team).

In the end, Ryan insisted that Fowler has been a winner throughout his career and has always been the best of his age group. Riendeau seemed to have some doubts about the keeper’s potential, but in the end, Ryan was able to convince him.

We’ll never know who the other goalie was, but Fowler is a high-quality prospect. What I’d give to have the uncensored version of the video…

What we also learn in the video is that Fowler looked really good in a pre-draft interview. And clearly, it gave his profile with the Habs aboost.

You can tell that his answers impressed the Tricolore’s management, as you can see in the following excerpt:

I really enjoy seeing the discussions and debates that lead to the selection of a player. We’re talking about an extremely complicated process, and with Fowler, we have a good example by seeing his interview with the CH as well as the conversations about him before the draft.

And since he’s one of my favorite prospects in the organization, needless to say, I’m glad Ryan pushed for his selection.

In short, an interesting glimpse into the process that led to Fowler’s selection early in the third round. The important thing is that everyone’s on the same page now, and I have no doubt that’s the case.

In gusto

– Danièle Sauvageau will be general manager of the Montreal team in the PWHL.

– Ah well.

– Signing with the Celtics.

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